


Dream's Reality

by Anonymous



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Canon Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Dreams, F/F, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-23 21:38:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17691545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Sayaka dreams of a girl she's never met. All the evidence points to the girl being a magical girl. Even though Sayaka forgets most of the dreams, nothing can erase how intensely she feels about the situation.





	Dream's Reality

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crowtoes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowtoes/gifts).



> Happy valentine's day!

There was a girl in front of her. She had a glinting spear in her hand, a sharp tip at the end possessing an unnatural existence to it, not glowing but wavering like it couldn't decide on its own size. The girl's eyes were glinting too, sharp with intent.

Sayaka stumbled from the sudden force of her spear thrust. It took all of her strength and concentration just to meet it. The attack was so sudden that she struggled to catch up to the situation, glancing around desperately for a clue.

"Stop it! Stop fighting!" Madoka cried behind her. Sayaka barely had room in her mind to register her as a friend, too busy dodging or blocking.

"Give up and leave," the girl said. Her voice was harsh, and heavy from the strain of fighting. It matched perfectly with her unforgiving eyes, which should have been foreboding, intimidating, and especially terrifying, given the unknown circumstances, but Sayaka felt nothing but an ambiguous stomach flip.

The spear flashed, and then it was in front of her face, rushing toward her.

The next second Sayaka was scrambling awake and gasping. She clutched her chest.

Adrenaline was still pumping in her veins, her heart beating against her ribs. She relaxed slowly, the tension fading little by little.

She checked the time. It was two in the morning.

The late hour didn't help her relax. It gave another layer of danger to Sayaka's feelings, even though the dream was already fading away, taking her memories of it with it.

She tossed and turned for the rest of the night, unable to fall back asleep, trying to slip into the same dream again or at least to recall some of it. Even though it had filled Sayaka with the vestiges of all kinds of negative feelings, so far gone she couldn't directly name them, she still felt the need to chase them.

By morning Sayaka only had echoes of feelings instead of any memories. Her alarm failed to wake her up, leaving her snoring through the normal time for breakfast. She usually didn't wake up on time, either hitting snooze, turning off the alarm, or having no alarm to begin with if she forgot to set it.

Her mother barged in with two pans and banged them together, startling her awake.

"Morning!"

Sayaka shrieked and flailed her hands around her face, bringing her arms up to shield herself. Her blanket was yanked off, and she folded her legs for more protection.

Her mother then fled, leaving quickly enough for Sayaka to think it was escape instead of just an exit. She did it often enough that she should've known Sayaka wouldn't have done more than throw a pillow at her.

Sayaka dragged herself out of bed. It took five minutes to get up after the rude awakening, but Sayaka has also woken up later than a few minutes.

She still only had enough time to grab a drink, a banana, and a packaged lunch instead of anything resembling a real breakfast. She finished it by the time she made it to school, with enough time to spare to play around on their walk to school.

 

* * *

 

They had a new student at school. A girl in their class with dark long hair and an intense yet mysterious aura. Apparently, Madoka knew her, and not in a sensible way connected to reality. They knew each other from a dream.

Sayaka and Hitomi burst out laughing. Hitomi continued to laugh, but Sayaka stopped, an unnatural feeling of weight falling over her mind, like deja vu but not quite.

What Madoka was saying sounded similar to what she knew.

"Now that I think about it... I had a weird dream last night, too," Sayaka said.

Hitomi stopped laughing, too, and she stared at Sayaka. "You too? You were just making fun of how she sounds like an anime protagonist." Her mouth twitched into a grin. "Are you trying to fit in now?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Sayaka said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It's just...how do I put it?" She leaned her elbows on the table. "What Madoka's saying sounds...right, at least. Something in there sounds familiar."

"Alright." Hitomi clasped her hands together. "What was your dream about, then?"

Sayaka scratched the back of her head. "Uh... I don't remember? It's so..." She motioned with her hands in unspecific motions in the air. "It's gone now."

"I don't remember that much, either," Madoka said. "All I remember is that girl was there."

Hitomi turned her head, calm and dignified with faux professionalism. "Was there a girl in yours, too, Sayaka?"

"I'm not sure? I don't...maybe." Sayaka hummed. "That sounds about right, I think."

Hitomi sighed. "And what about you, Madoka? What do you remember Homura doing in your dream?"

Unlike Sayaka's immediate casual admission that she knew nothing, Madoka crossed her arms and thought hard, frowning. She made small frustrated noises as her head tilted further down.

"I don't remember?" Madoka said after a minute.

Hitomi sighed again, this time unwinding out of her investigation mode. "I don't know what to tell you two, then."

"Don't worry. It's not like it's important or anything," Sayaka said.

Hitomi dusted herself off, stood, and dismissed herself for tea ceremony lessons. Sayaka and Madoka left for the music store.

In the middle of browsing a section of new release albums, Sayaka turned to ask Madoka if she'd heard of an artist Sayaka had her eye on, and she found that Madoka wasn't there.

Sayaka placed her items down on the shelf and glanced around. Madoka wasn't anywhere in the store.

A faint vague sensation entered Sayaka's mind. It had the same familiarity as the not-deja vu from earlier, when Madoka had been not-explaining her dream, except this time it _did_ feel like deja vu.

Sayaka walked toward a door marked "Employees Only" and stepped inside. She didn't know exactly what she was doing, but the strong feeling of deja vu made her think, more and more, that this all felt familiar. Like it had actually happened before.

Except Sayaka would've definitely remembered something like this, stepping into a dark underground place and finding the weird transfer student running by. The deja vu was more like a sensation of vertigo than a real recollection of memories.

Sayaka grabbed the first thing she saw -- a fire extinguisher -- and hurried down the stairs. At the first sign of a head of pink hair, Sayaka braked roughly, her feet scraping the floor to change momentum, and she tore to Madoka's direction.

Sayaka had never used a fire extinguisher before. The trigger and nozzle looked like it actually required knowledge to use, but before she could think about it much, her fingers found where they needed to be, and she unleashed a veil of smoke. She grabbed Madoka and ran.

"Sayaka!" Madoka cried.

Sayaka shuddered and ignored the vague familiarity of Madoka crying out like that. "What's going on? Why is that transfer weirdo in cosplay? And why is that... Is that a cat?"

"I don't know! I don't know, but I know it's hurt. It was calling me!"

They continued to run until a round of colors burst into sight, coloring everything in the drab darkness until everything was incomprehensible.

Somehow, Sayaka couldn't experience deep shock. She was surprised, but at the same time it didn't come as a real shock, like Sayaka had been expecting it.

 _That_ made her genuinely surprised. By the time Sayaka had wrapped her head around it, another girl in cosplay had appeared, her clothes flashing with the light of transformation. She summoned a horde of large floating guns and fired them all at once.

By the end of the lightshow Sayaka and Madoka were both gasping in awe. No amount of unnatural shock buffer could keep Sayaka from appreciating a _magical girl_.

"That was amazing!" Sayaka exclaimed. "Are you -- you're a -- !"

The magical girl smiled. It was kind and encouraging, everything a hero should be.

"I should be thanking _you_. You saved my dear friend Kyuubey," the girl said. Her head swiveled in the direction of darkness as footsteps echoed, Homura announcing herself.

After a tense conversation between Homura and the magical girl, the magical girl led them to her home.

Her name was Mami. The creature Madoka had saved was named Kyuubey.

Kyuubey asked them if they wanted to become magical girls. Before they had barely finished explaining wishes and contracts, Sayaka blurted out, "I'll do it."

Madoka gasped. It didn't come close to scandalized the way Hitomi would've been, but it was still a reaction Sayaka wanted to remember forever. "Sayaka!"

"Oh? You have a wish already?" Kyuubey asked, his tail waving behind him in satisfaction.

"Um... No," Sayaka said. "I'm just, I'm ready to do it! All I need is a wish!"

Mami's smile curled a little in disapproval. "You should take some time to think about it."

"No, no! I know I want to do this!" Sayaka got to her feet, raising her fist in the air. "I'll become a magical girl like her!"

Everyone in the room stared at her without speaking for a moment.

"Who?" Madoka asked.

Sayaka lowered her first, staring at it in thought. "...What? Who was I talking about just now?"

"You don't even know?" Mami asked.

"No... I don't." Sayaka's mind whirred frantically, but the more she thought, the further away she felt from what seconds before she had almost grasped.

It was from the dream, she was sure of it.

Instead of passively flitting through her mind, Sayaka opened her mouth and let instinct form words. "She was really strong, and she had a spear, and she was -- I don't know, she was, she..." The trail of thought died.

Mami raised an eyebrow. "You know another magical girl?"

"Oh!" Madoka stumbled to sit up straight. "She had a weird dream last night, but she said she couldn't remember it. Do you remember now, Sayaka?"

For reasons Sayaka couldn't understand, her face turned red. She pointed an accusing finger at Madoka and blurted, "She had a weird dream too! About that weirdo, Homura!"

Mami sat back with her arms crossed. "So you two also know Homura..."

Kyuubey's wide eyes never blinked. He turned them on Sayaka and Madoka with a new light of appraisal. "Prophetic dreams, perhaps? If you have dreams of the future when you're still human, then I can't imagine what they'll be like when you're magical girls. Your magical potential must be incredible. Both of you."

Madoka and Sayaka turned toward each other with wide victorious eyes, Madoka with a faint thread of anxiety.

"You should keep track of your dreams," Kyuubey continued. "Do your best to cultivate them and keep dreaming. If anything else happens, let us know."

Sayaka drew her hand up in a salute. "Got it!"

 

* * *

 

Sayaka went to bed concentrating on the dream slipping through her fingers.

She hadn't said it earlier to Madoka, Mami, and Kyuubey, but now, alone in her room and closer to sleep than wakefulness, she was further from the dream than before, but closer to it in other ways.

The girl, for example. Sayaka couldn't picture her face, or even the spear she apparently had, but Sayaka could float in the presence she gave -- intense, but unlike Homura, it had undeniable importance, the self-assured kind. Like the girl was someone who knew what they wanted from life, and had their own morals.

After spending half an hour lying in bed parsing her thoughts, Sayaka came to the conclusion that the girl with the spear wasn't just any magical girl. All magical girls weren't just _anybody_ , but this girl, especially, had to be special. Sayaka came to the conclusion that she was a magical girl of justice.

The whole magical girl situation felt familiar, but more importantly, it felt right. It felt like it already should've happened. Sayaka knew she would've said yes later anyway -- why shouldn't she just skip the indecision and go for it? All she needed was a wish.

Sayaka didn't realize she was in another dream when she fell asleep. The girl with the spear appeared again, attacking Sayaka, and Sayaka didn't have the presence of mind to commit her appearance to memory, her red hair or distraught face.

In the moment, though, she could recall exactly what the previous dream had been like, if only to make comparisons. Before the girl had been angry, and her attacks had been unforgiving, but now she looked like she was about to cry. Either way she was still attacking Sayaka.

Dimly Sayaka realized she didn't have arms or legs -- or at least, the traditional kind a human would have. The oddity of that realization didn't penetrate through her mind to her common sense, like she was in a fog, unable to understand why or to even care. All she cared about was that the girl was there.

Something hit her stalled mind, like a stopped clock being able to chime correctly twice a day. The place they were in, the incomprehensible atmosphere -- Sayaka's dream-mind managed to connect the dots to the witch's labyrinth they had been in yesterday when they had met Mami. They were in another labyrinth.

Sayaka woke up startled, jumping with a body-wide twitch. She sat up on reflex.

The clock next to her presented the time: 1 A.M. Sayaka had been asleep for hours.

For a minute Sayaka sat there, blank, not awake enough to consider writing down her dream. Then she startled again and realized it, but by the time she had scrambled out of bed for a pen she had forgotten the dream.

Sayaka released a long frustrated groan. It was too late for screaming.

 

* * *

 

By the time Sayaka had gotten dressed and walked halfway to school, she had decided these weren't just prophetic dreams or whatever Kyuubey had tried to say in a matter-of-fact voice like it was clockwork or science. It had to be fate.

Unfortunately for Madoka she got stuck with a creepy jerk, but then again Sayaka was the one more prepared for adventure and greatness. She was sure Spear Girl was also prepared.

When Sayaka met up with Madoka and Hitomi she was already mentally referring to her as her fated magical girl partner.

The sight of Kyuubey on Madoka's shoulder stopped Sayaka in her tracks. "Wait what, what's he doing there--"

Kyuubey's eyes pinned down something in Sayaka that cut her off.

"No one but me, you, and Mami can see him," Madoka said. It was her voice, but the way it echoed close told Sayaka it was telepathy.

 _Telepathy_.

"This is so cool!" Sayaka shrieked in her mind, already adapting eagerly. She hopped and skipped up to Madoka and Hitomi.

Madoka flinched from the noise. Kyuubey stared unerringly back at Sayka.

"Is something going on...?" Hitomi asked, leaning forward and tilting her head to glance between them. She didn't miss the deep eye contact between Madoka and Sayaka, like there was a conversation in their eyes.

"Nope! Nothing!" Sayaka said out loud to her. She laughed and waved it off, coming to Madoka's side to walk beside them.

"So I had another dream about her," Sayaka said in her mind.

"What happened?" Madoka asked back.

"...I don't remember," Sayaka thought, the telepathy conveying her sheepishness perfectly through a psychic voice. "Did you have another dream, too?"

"No."

"Be careful," Kyuubey interrupted. "You three are the only ones who can use telepathy with me and share in this conversation, but Homura can still see me," he said as they entered the classroom.

Homura glared at Kyuubey as he leaped onto Madoka's desk.

Sayaka tensed and spread her feet, prepared for a fight. She hadn't thought any words directly, but the telepathy must have still conveyed some kind of hostility or desperation, because Mami's voice chimed in softly.

"I don't think she'll try anything in a school full of people, but don't worry. I'm also here. I'll protect you from Homura."

Sayaka relaxed. "That's right, Mami goes here, too," she said in her thoughts.

For the rest of the day Sayaka and Madoka tested the limits of their telepathy. It wasn't quite intentional -- Sayaka's mind drifted to Spear Girl often, trying to make heads and tails of everything, and Madoka responded back quietly in her mind, making Sayaka remember that she had listeners in her own thoughts.

Sayaka jolted every time, startling the whole class, and Mami laughed quietly each time.

At the end of school Sayaka had an estimate of how much an invasion of privacy the telepathy was. Still, it could be useful for fighting. Sayaka wasn't tactical by any means, but she was always eager to use anything related to magic. Being resourceful was a bonus.

Mami took them with her on an educational witch hunt, and they crept into the night, following behind with their eyes peeled.

 

* * *

 

When Mami died, Sayaka didn't know what to think. Pure shock numbed her mind, to the point that she couldn't make a decision to form a contract, become a magical girl, and fight, at least to save herself and Madoka. Homura had to come save them.

Several hours afterward, when everyone was resting in their homes, Sayaka still didn't know what to think. This time it was from indecision.

Before Mami's death, Sayaka had been thinking of using her wish on Kyosuke. Not only was it the obvious choice, but it was the best choice, it would help someone while also turning her into a magical girl. It was a win-win.

Then a sinking feeling in her stomach had chased the idea.

That had to mean it was a bad idea. Her not-memories had yet to steer her wrong. Yet Sayaka also couldn't see what could possibly be so wrong with using her wish on Kyosuke. Even if she died fighting, it would be a noble death, and Kyosuke would be happy.

Mami's death.... Sayaka didn't know if it changed things. She still felt wrong about her potential wish, yet it was an unnatural wrongness from memories she didn't even have. Just dreams.

Sayaka also wondered if the girl from her dreams would've saved Mami. Eventually she decided on yes; she would've.

 

* * *

 

Madoka had given up on becoming a magical girl. The offer had sounded too good to be true in the beginning, and that concept turned out to be right on the mark.

Part of Sayaka had also given up on becoming a magical girl. Enough to agree with Madoka and dismiss Kyuubey, wishing him a final farewell.

Not enough for the idea to be banished from her mind altogether.

However Sayaka approached things, the wish ended up being the thing that sent her preternatural instinct into vertigo, not anything else. Sayaka didn't know what to make of the realization.

Then, on a walk home, she came across a girl covered entirely in red, from her clothes to the blood soaking them. Blood dripped from her arms and head, too. Her hair was so ruined that it didn't have a hairstyle left.

Sayaka crouched beside her. The girl was groaning, but the way her voice rasped indicated her throat was raw from overuse. She twitched at Sayaka's approach but tensed and then fell back, too weak to do anything.

Sayaka glanced around to figure out why the girl was bleeding out alone, but instead of the sight of a street that was at least somewhat familiar, there was nothing but an array of color and shapes that could only be a witch's labyrinth. The colors alone made Sayaka shudder from the memory of Mami's death.

Kyuubey walked up to Sayaka's side, his eyes flashing with knowledge. For once, there was a vague emotion in them, even if it was just the light of intelligence approaching a knowing look.

"Sayaka. Do you have a wish?" Kyuubey said. "The witch is on its way."

Sayaka stood, another shudder running through her body. The thought of binding her life to a fate of fighting was horrifying now that she knew what could happen, but if she didn't make a wish, both the stranger and Sayaka would die anyway.

"Yes."

Kyuubey's ears twitched in anticipation. "Then what will be the wish that makes your soul gem shine?"

Sayaka fixed her eyes on the bleeding girl. "I wish for her to live."

Suddenly a deep pain in her chest crushed her consciousness, and she gasped and clutched at her shirt. Light poured out from under her hands. Something small and solid appeared between her hands, but through the haze of pain Sayaka barely registered it.

"Congratulations," Kyuubey said. "The contract has been made. Your wish has prevailed over entropy." He tilted his head in the direction ahead. "Unfortunately, you don't have a lot of time to adjust."

A weight fell over Sayaka's shoulders, like the sensation of deja vu or familiarity falling over her mind, except it was undeniably magic. With the weight the pain was dispelled.

A sword flashed into existence in her hands. Sayaka swung it back and forth to test it, stepping forward in the same motion, away from the girl in a defensive maneuver.

The witch of the labyrinth burst through a wall, announcing itself in a flurry of colorful destruction. Like the other witches Sayaka had seen, it barely resembled a person, appearing in a bipedal form with more bright colors and a misshapen hat on its head.

Sayaka glanced behind her, down at the girl. She wasn't in any magical girl clothes, but she seemed to still be alive, and able to survive the night. She was breathing deeply and regularly now in a state of unconsciousness instead of the pained uneven breathing of someone on their deathbed.

"I'll protect you. Just like she would." Sayaka pulled her sword in close to run.

Sayaka had always been athletic. She could run longer than the other girls, faster than most of them, and she could carry someone, and climb trees. Magic didn't give her any substantial boosts to power and speed, but Sayaka still felt invincible, even though she knew she had no reason to think so. She had evidence that that line of thinking would be dangerous.

She still felt like she was on fire. In general sometimes if she wasn't careful she'd run out of breath anyway, but at the moment she felt like her breathing was in time with her body, exhilarated.

Sayaka ducked under an outstretched hand. The witch had multiple arms sprouting from its body, each one looking normal and harmless out of context, but together with the fact that there were several more the sight was eerie. Sayaka chopped one arm down and ran under another.

One hand clipped Sayaka's arm, and she gasped, the air in her throat choking. The hand had sharp nails, and it had gouged out a chunk of her arm. The force had been rougher than she had expected, too, sending her stumbling and then moving sloppily, rushing to get back together.

Sayaka spent the next few minutes desperate, waving her sword back and forth to cut any hands that came close. It didn't seem to matter much, since the witch wasn't trying to make any new kinds of attacks, but Sayaka knew she should've been doing better.

In one fit of desperation Sayaka cried out, released a second sword into one of her hands, and threw it at the witch. It released an inhuman screech, piercing and startling compared to the noises of giggles it had been making in its attacks.

The witch paused, its arms retracting with tension, and in the lull Sayaka was hit with a vision of the witch attacking with a blitz of hands.

In the next moment Sayaka brought up her swords and crossed them in a blocking form, and seconds after a barrage of attacks rushed at her, and all she could do was keep her swords in place. She was lucky she hadn't thrown her extra sword before she ended up needing it.

After that there was another pause, a longer one, and before Sayaka could think too much about it, she ran forward to swipe her swords at the witch.

She shoved in one sword, digging it into one of its legs, and left it there to throw the other sword straight into its chest. She ran backward to escape the witch's flailing limbs as it screeched.

Sayaka didn't know how to gauge if the witch was finished or not, but she didn't want to take any chances, Mami's death always fresh in her mind. She summoned two more swords and gripped them in her hands, tightening her fists around the hilts and already preparing to move to the side.

The labyrinth dispersed with the soft dissonance of a rainbow after a storm.

Sayaka bent her knees, getting one last defensive stance out of her system. Then she slid her swords into imaginary sheaths at her waist before her entire magical girl outfit disappeared in a flickering shower of light.

"Well, that's one way to know if the witch is dead." Sayaka laughed nervously, and then whipped her head around at the unconscious girl after the thought of her struck her. "Are you okay?!"

Kyuubey landed on the floor beside them. "She's unconscious, but she'll be fine. It's thanks to you, Sayaka."

"Oh, it was no big deal," Sayaka said with a breathless laugh. She rubbed at her neck. Then she bent over to inspect the girl. "How did she event get so hurt? And what was she doing in the witch's labyrinth?"

"You should ask her yourself when she wakes up." Kyuubey tilted his head away. "I have to go, but keep an eye on her."

"I will." Sayaka crouched and gently lifted the girl.

Thankfully Sayaka had the strength to do it. She carried her back home, ducking through shadows and climbing in through the window first to avoid being caught by her parents. After dropping her off Sayaka climbed back out and went to the front door.

Her mother answered. "Miki! Where were you?! We've been worried sick!"

Sayaka winced. "Sorry. But I didn't mean to be late! I was on my way home, I was going to be on time!" Sayaka exclaimed, her adrenaline pouring energy into her explanation. She wilted. "But...something happened."

Her mother opened the door further, bumping it open softly with her hip. "Oh? What is it?"

"It's nothing!" Sayaka perked up again and waved her hands. "I just came across a lost dog and chased it until I found its owner."

Her mother's frown disappeared, replaced with a smile. "That was kind of you."

"Are you kidding? What kind of heartless person would ignore a poor dog in the street?" Sayaka an uncomfortable laugh, and then mentally cringed.

Her acting had been perfect until that point.

Her mother didn't mention it though, and headed inside. Sayaka slipped off her shoes at the door, ran to her room, and dumped her school bag on the floor.

"Dinner'll be ready soon!" her mother called out.

"Got it!" Sayaka called back through the walls as she moved with purpose throughout her room. She tore through her room looking for clothes to give the girl, but when she found some and turned to her, she realized the girl was wearing different clothes already.

They were impeccable, without a spot of blood on them. Her hair was still disheveled, but when Sayaka swallowed past her modesty and peeked under her clothes, she found all wounds gone, even traces of them. There weren't any scars or patches of dried blood.

Sayaka sat back. "Weird...but cool."

She checked her own arm and discovered the injury was also missing. It throbbed with soreness, but it was healthy.

Sayaka fixed the bed covers over and around the girl, hoping to disguise the bed as just messy instead of having a suspicious human-shaped lump. After she finished she sloppily did her homework and waited for dinner.

 

* * *

 

In the middle of the night, long past dinner, Sayaka slipped out of her room for the kitchen. She didn't think she could count on her acting skills to sneak out a plate of food right after dinner under the eyes of her parents, and she didn't think she could lie and directly get away with eating another plate in her room either, but creeping around at night was the next best idea.

Sayaka had spent extra time ensuring she was quiet, opening and closing doors with so much slowness it would be impossible for them to creak. By the time she had gathered food onto a plate and made it back to her room, relaxing with relief, she realized the girl in her bed was awake.

Sayaka startled and jerked her hands, almost spilling all the food.

"Who are you?" the girl demanded.

Sayaka only fumbled a little at the familiar harshness of her voice. "I'm Sayaka Miki. I found you bleeding to death earlier and took you home."

The girl scoffed. "Took me home? I'm not a puppy you can just take off the street." Her eyes fell on the plate. "Is that for me?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Here." Sayaka placed it on the desk.

The girl stood up immediately. She paused in a disguised wince, clutching her side, but she moved on quickly and took a seat.

"Can I ask what happened, or--?"

"Shh." The girl held her hand up, and then pointed at her face.

Sayaka sat back on the edge of the bed. Despite her gruffness, Sayaka smiled. The girl sounded rough, but she was a person like Sayaka and even homed in on food with singular focus.

She really was like a dog. If she hadn't mentioned it, Sayaka wouldn't have considered it, but it was true.

When the girl finished, she spun around. "How the hell did you bring me back from near-death?"

Sayaka straightened to attention. "I'm a magical girl!"

The girl slapped her face with her palm. "Of course. Of _course_. What, you think I'm in your debt now? You want me to hand over Mami's territory?"

Sayaka's face fell. "What?"

"I hate owing people, but I am _not_ going to compromise or whatever." The girl crossed her arms. "So you're one of those negotiator types. Still doesn't explain how you healed me. Is it your magic? At least that's impressive."

"Hold on..." Sayaka held her hands out. "Can you go slower? I'm not trying to take anything away from you."

The girl scoffed and jerked her head away. "Are you a new magical girl or something? Kyuubey didn't tell me there was one already here."

Sayaka's eyes widened. "You know Kyuubey? Are you a magical girl too?"

"Duh. Don't play stupid, it won't work."

Kyuubey appeared in a small burst of light and plopped down on the bed next to Sayaka. "Sayaka just became a magical girl today," Kyuubey said.

Sayaka and the girl both flinched.

"Give us a warning, Kyuubey," the girl snapped.

Kyuubey tilted his head. "Wouldn't the warning startle you too?"

"Okay, look, let's get one thing straight here: I have no idea who you are, and all I wanted was to keep you alive. I don't want to fight," Sayaka said.

The girl sighed. Her relaxed posture remained quiet for a while, until she said, "Kyoko Sakura."

"Okay." Sayaka gave a small smile.

"How did you heal me, anyway?" Kyoko asked.

"With my wish."

Kyoko's face hardened, and her hands tightened around her crossed arms. "Tell me you didn't."

"Didn't wha--"

" _Tell me you didn't use your wish to heal me_ ," Kyoko demanded, leaning forward at an intimidating angle that brought out the commanding aura and light of her eyes.

Sayaka leaned back. "I did," she still said.

Kyoko lowered her head back into her hands. "You're one major idiot."

"Wh-what's wrong with my wish!" Sayaka exclaimed.

Kyoko shook her head from where she held it. "You're not supposed to use it on other people. You have no idea if it'll work out and if the other person actually wants it. Most of the time it won't even work out."

Sayaka sat further back on the bed to cross her legs. "I should've let you die, then? Is that it?"

Kyoko brought her head back up. Her face was pained, like her whole belief system had just been shattered. "I... I think so, yeah."

Sayaka let out a huff. "You're the idiot here, then."

Kyoko's head snapped further up. " _I'm_ the idiot? You had no idea if I wanted to live or not. You had an entire miracle you could've used on anything, anything you wanted, and you used it on something you can't even _use_. And now you get to fight for the rest of your life on something you can't take back or use."

"But I couldn't let you die!" Sayaka cried out to interrupt her. She calmed down for a moment and added, "That wouldn't be right."

"Oh. _Oh_. You're an even bigger idiot than I thought. You're not a goody two-shoes or class president or something who wants everyone to get along. You're a fairy tale protagonist of _justice_. Aren't you?"

Sayaka bristled. "Wh-what's wrong with that!" she said.

"Everything." Kyoko breathed out, stretched her hands and arms, and then cracked them. "Okay. Here's how I'll repay my debt to you. I'll teach you everything there is to know about magical girls, and how to live like one."

Sayaka turned and recrossed her arms, lifting her nose into the air. "That's not good enough."

"Then what _is_?" Kyoko snapped in a fit of anger.

Sayaka's haughty expression faded away. She tapped her chin. "You can... Um..."

Kyoko released a heavy sigh.

"You can stay with me until I think of how you can repay me!" Sayaka finally decided.

"What? Oh, fine." Kyoko released a longer, heavier sigh.

Sayaka turned back around. "And you have to teach me stuff in the meantime," she said with a nod.

"Great," Kyoko said.

Sayaka stretched out her hand in a supportive gesture. "Meanwhile, since you'll be staying here, I'll take care of your food and shelter."

Kyoko perked up. "You'll feed me?"

Sayaka hopped off the bed and opened the closet. "Yeah. And I'll work something out for a place for you to sleep. Let me..." she trailed off as she dug for blankets and pillows.

Kyoko waved her hand. "I don't really need that stuff."

"Be quiet. I'm making you a bed." Sayaka pulled out of the closet with thick blankets. She laid them out on the floor. "I'll try to figure out something better tomorrow," she said as she fixed another blanket layer on top.

Sayak scooted back to gauge the makeshift bed, and then nodded at its completion.

Kyoko tentatively shuffled over it. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"No problem," Sayaka mumbled back as she climbed into bed.

 

* * *

 

Sayaka woke up early and made enough breakfast for the both of them. She had no idea what time her parents woke up, so she woke up as early as she could get away with, hoped they didn't wake up before she took her breakfast to her room, and then kept an eye open to see what time they did wake up, for future food-sneaking reference.

Her parents caught her washing the dishes.

"You cooked!" her father exclaimed.

Sayaka flinched and swung around with a pair of chopsticks raised in the air for defense. She blinked and stilled. "Oh."

"Don't give me that, 'oh,'" her mother said affectionately. She ruffled Sayaka's hair as she passed and reached for a cupboard for cooking utensils. "It's about time you started acting like a grown up and doing your own cooking and cleaning."

Sayaka rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." She scrubbed the last of the dishes and ducked back into her room.

Kyoko was waiting there sitting on the bed. Sayaka slammed the door shut behind her with a gasp of surprise.

"My parents are still here!" Sayaka warned in a hiss. "Don't sit out in plain sight like that!"

Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "You mean I should wait in the closet like a fugitive?"

"Yes," Sayaka said with sincerity. She stuffed things into her school bag and hooked it onto her arm. She fixed Kyoko with eye contact. "Hide in the closet until my parents leave for work."

Kyoko groaned. "Fine." She dragged herself in and closed the door.

"You're going to be late for school!" Sayaka's mom called.

Sayaka darted out the door and ran.

 

* * *

 

In the midst of everything that had happened in the past day, Sayaka had forgotten about Madoka.

Madoka and Hitomi waited for her at their usual spot, where they waited to gather together and then walk the rest of the way to school. There was no Kyuubey telepathy to communicate with Madoka secretly.

Sayaka had to wait until after school, when Hitomi had gone off to another lesson for something Sayaka couldn't remember.

Madoka glanced at Sayaka expectantly. "Don't you want to go shopping for music?"

Sayaka stopped cold. "Oh. _Kyosuke_."

Madoka's mouth fell open. She could barely contain her shock. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No, no, I'm fine." Sayaka sent her a grin, too forced and easily recognized by someone close like Madoka.

Madoka frowned. All of her frowns were small, like she was afraid to express genuine disapproval with someone, but it was still there. "You forgot about Kyosuke until I said his name."

"I just have a lot on my mind, is all!" Sayaka laughed nervously.

Madoka looked at her with growing disbelief.

Sayaka sighed and slumped forward. "I became a magical girl last night."

"Sayaka!" Madoka gasped with horror. "You told me you wouldn't...!"

"Sorry, Madoka, but I had to do it. I found a girl last night who was about to die. She's a magical girl too, actually." Sayaka straightened back up. "Now I'm off for...magical girl lessons? I'm going to do magical girl stuff." Sayaka waved at her before leaving.

Madoka reluctantly waved back.

Sayaka walked home by herself, the three of them going their separate ways for their own responsibilities. Sayaka didn't know what Madoka was going to do, but it was for the best if she didn't get involved in magical girl stuff if she didn't have a reason to do it.

Besides, Sayaka had a partner. She didn't have as much a reason to be afraid as she would've been without her.

A partner that she couldn't find. Kyoko wasn't in her room when she came home, and she ended up searching all over the house, growing more and more desperate. She managed to contain her desperation enough to keep her search from becoming a mess, but as soon as she scoured the whole house and realized Kyoko wasn't going to be anywhere in there, she burst outside and went into a moving panic.

Kyoko walked around the corner of a street a few blocks away, chewing an apple. When Sayaka stopped to gawk, Kyoko walked up to her.

"It's about time you came home."

"I had school!" Sayaka stomped her foot. "Never mind that. What're you doing outside?"

Kyoko paused in a bite, and then closed her mouth. "What am I, your prisoner? I just went outside. There aren't any witches, by the way. You're welcome."

Sayaka grew puzzled. "For what?"

"For going and looking while you were off at school." Kyoko tossed the apple core into a nearby trash can. "Well, I might've eaten the witch anyway, but at least I would've told you there was one prey less for us."

"Eaten?" Sayaka's nose wrinkled in further confusion.

"Yeah. I got a grief seed." At the still-present look on Sayaka's face, Kyoko frowned. "You know what a grief seed is, right?"

"Right, right! Yeah, I remember now. Mami taught me. Sorry, I forgot for a second."

Kyoko paused. "Mami taught you?"

"Yeah. She was helping me and Madoka decide if we should become magical girls or not."

"...Madoka?" Kyoko asked, this time with a wrinkled expression of distaste.

"She's my best friend. She changed her mind and doesn't want to be a magical girl, though."

"Good." Kyoko wiped her hands on her clothes.

"'Good?' What's good about that?"

"I don't want there to be so many magical girls all in one place."

"What's wrong with that? Isn't it better to have help?"

Kyoko clicked her tongue. "You know how grief seeds clear your soul gem?"

"Yeah?"

Kyoko stared at her. "How are you not getting this? People will fight over the grief seeds."

"Oh." Sayaka scratched the side of her neck.

Kyoko motioned at Sayaka to follow, and after turning on her heel, led ahead. Sayaka followed slightly behind her at her side.

"So Mami taught you."

"Yeah," Sayaka said.

"How much?"

"...Not a lot. She didn't get the chance to."

"Makes sense," Kyoko said. "Well, at least she left stuff for me to teach you."

"What _is_ there to teach me, though? Isn't fighting and grief seeds all there is to it?"

Kyoko turned her head, close enough for Sayaka to move back. "There's way more to it than that. For starters, you need to have the right mindset."

"Mindset?" Sayaka repeated blankly.

"Magical girls are at the top of the food chain. They feed on witches, and witches feed on people."

Sayaka's blood chilled. Kyoko stepped back and grimaced.

"You already look like you aren't getting it."

"I don't like the thought of witches hurting people," Sayaka explained.

"Well, that's too bad. Sometimes labyrinths are only occupied by familiars, and killing them is a waste. They don't drop grief seeds. You have to let familiars feed on a person or two before they turn into full witches that give seeds."

Sayaka's heart twisted further and further into a horrified pounding in her chest. "But people might die that way."

Kyoko shrugged. "It's the way the food chain works. It's the only way we can get grief seeds."

Sayaka grabbed the front of Kyoko's shirt, shaking and unable to look her in the face at the moment. Her eyes were on her feet.

When she lifted her eyes, she said, "I'm not going to let people die."

Kyoko's face twisted into a dark expression Sayaka couldn't read. "You're going to die that way."

"I won't! I'll find a way to make everything work out."

Kyoko slapped her hands away and staggered backward a few steps, her hands over her eyes as she looked at the ground. "You haven't heard a word I said, have you? I specifically told you things never work out when you sacrifice yourself for others."

"I thought that was only for wishes."

"No, it's for any kind of magic. Damnit, Sayaka..." Kyoko pounded her hand against a nearby wall. "I don't want my benefactor or a newbie to die because of something so stupid."

"I won't die. If you're so hung up on something dumb like that, I don't even know why you'd care." Sayaka turned around abruptly. "I'm leaving. Do whatever you want. Come, don't come."

Sayaka ran off, wiping her hands over her eyes and nose. By the time she made it home she was crying.

She didn't know how to explain it. It was like the involuntary watery eyes of spicy food, or a sniffling nose from the cold. Her chest hurt from shaking, but she didn't think she cared that much over what even happened to Kyoko anymore. The idea of letting people die to witches hurt.

That entire conversation had hurt. Sayaka curled up on her bed and forgot about homework.

Eventually she realized she had to go hunting for witches on her own, so when she returned to the sensations of her body after thinking about that, she discovered hours had passed.

She grabbed her soul gem, gave a half-lie to her parents about visiting Madoka, and then went outside.

She had been preparing to go to Madoka's first, just to tell her to watch out for Kyoko, but then her soul gem shined, and she whipped her head around.

There was a witch on the loose. Her soul gem led her to an abandoned warehouse.

As she stepped inside, she also stepped into the witch's labyrinth. To her shock Madoka was floating up above, held in place and stretched out to inhuman lengths. Sayaka jumped in right away and swept the enemies aside.

"Madoka!"

"Saya...ka...?"

"Madoka!" Sayaka cried out again. She grabbed Madoka's shoulders as she returned to her familiar shape, turning her back on the witch to make sure Madoka was fine.

Something sharp, deep, and painful pierced Sayaka's chest. Sayaka made a muffled startled noise and grasped the sudden hole in her chest.

"Sayaka!" Madoka screamed, her voice back together. She trembled, and her new alertness snapped to heavy crying in an instant.

Sayaka weakly pushed her back. "No, Madoka. I need to fight this witch."

"But you're dying!" Madoka cried. She swiveled her head back and forth desperately. "Kyuubey!"

" _No_ ," Sayaka said. "No. I'll... I'll handle this," Sayaka said in a weak but steadily growing voice.

Sayaka thought it might have been the adrenaline talking, but when she stood again, she reached for her chest again and felt the pain was weaker instead of her body being weaker.

She ignored it and slashed a sword in the air. She was still too weak to dodge everything, so after a few minutes she was covered in more gashes and missing chunks of flesh.

The witch was dead after those few minutes. It was weak, too, although Sayaka guessed that the witch itself might've just been weak.

She wondered if it was a familiar like Kyoko had told her about, before a grief seed appeared.

Madoka and Sayaka stumbled in their rush to check on Hitomi. Hitomi was dizzy and unable to understand what she had been doing or why, but she was unscathed. She wobbled her way to the police that arrived.

Sayaka led Madoka away in the aftermath, unwilling to talk to the police. The near-death throes still gripped her heart, and her pulse filled her entire body with adrenaline.

"How am I still alive?" Sayaka asked in a daze.

"Incredible," Kyuubey said. "Like I suspected, your wish granted exceptional healing powers."

Sayaka whipped around. "Kyuubey?"

Kyuubey stared into her eyes. "If you had used your wish on Kyosuke, you might have still gained healing powers, but it would have never been so grand.

"Sayaka. You made the right choice. Healing a magical girl is a stronger wish than healing a human. You're more powerful than you would have been before."

"I am?" Sayaka glanced over herself. Even her clothes were back to normal. They were her civilian clothes, but they didn't have blood or cuts on them. "Huh."

"You healed before you detransformed, so there are no problems with your clothes," Kyuubey explained.

"Sayaka...is going to be okay?" Madoka asked weakly.

"Yes."

Sayaka released a sigh of relief, and then rubbed her chin. "Didn't Mami heal herself though? And she's a magical girl? She should've been more powerful, too."

Kyuubey finally blinked. "Don't you remember the exact words of your wish?"

"Uh. No?" Sayaka pressed her lips together into a sheepish line. "Should I?"

"Your wish was for Kyoko to live. It wasn't just to heal her. She can no longer die now."

The blood drained from Sayaka's face. "What... What does that mean...?" she asked slowly.

"It's an incredible wish, Sayaka. It's better than bringing the dead back to life. Although it does put a strain on entropy."

"But what if she eventually wants to die?" Sayaka asked.

"She won't be able to."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Madoka asked.

Sayaka sat down on the hard ground. "I'm not sure... Kyoko was really mad earlier over stuff like my wish."

"Why?"

"She thinks using your wish on other people does nothing but cause problems."

The biggest frown Sayaka had ever seen on Madoka's face appeared. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Tell me about it!" Sayaka yelled as she raised her hands, eager to dispel the atmosphere.

When Kyuubey turned to disappear again, Sayaka reached out for him. "Wait. What does my wish mean for me? Can I die?"

"Yes. Your wish wasn't for you, after all. Your wish just created magic that can keep you from dying in most cases."

"Oh..." Sayaka withdrew her hand. "I see."

Kyuubey disappeared for good for the day. Madoka helped Sayaka up.

"I need to let Kyoko know," Sayaka said. After that sunk in, she groaned.

Madoka gave a wobbly smile. "I'm sure you can talk things over."

"Yeah. Sure." Sayaka waved. "See you tomorrow, Madoka."

She came home to another scolding for the lateness.

 

* * *

 

Sayaka couldn't find Kyoko. She was starting to panic again, growing more desperate and leaving more of a mess as she searched the city.

Instead of going to sleep, Sayaka sneaked out and continued searching. She was high-strung the whole time, her heart pounding.

So when she turned and came face to face with an amused Kyoko, she stumbled back and almost screamed.

Kyoko recognized the heart attack on her face and sighed as she placed her hand on Sayaka's arm, although it wasn't like her usual sighs of exasperation, fatigue, or annoyance.

Sayaka wondered when she had gotten to know Kyoko well enough to understand that nuance.

"Look, we need to talk," Sayaka said.

"Yeah," Kyoko admitted. "I'm sorry. You saved me, and the very least I should do is be more...gentle with my teaching. And really, no matter what I think, you're the reason I'm still here, so if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be able to stand around and stand on my soapbox."

Sayaka rubbed the back of her head. "Thanks, but... I went looking for you for something else."

Kyoko's gentle face fell. "You don't even want to apologize back or anything? Fine. What is it? What's so important?"

"Kyuubey pointed out something about my wish." Sayaka tensed, preparing for an outburst. "Because of my wording, you can't die anymore."

Kyoko closed her eyes. "Sayaka. What were your exact words."

"What I said was... 'I wish for her to live.'"

Kyoko stared at her for a moment, before a bubble of laughter escaped. She bent at the waist and held her stomach to pour out her laughter into the night.

"Oh my god. How dumb can one person _be_?" Kyoko asked in between laughs.

Sayaka tensed further. "I don't know what the problem is! You're invincible now! You don't even have to worry about grief seeds anymore!"

"I know, I know." Kyoko's laughter died as she flapped a hand in Sayaka's direction. "You're right. I am glad about that. It's just... You didn't even give your wish much thought, did you?"

Sayaka turned her head away. "I didn't have to."

"Okay. That's the kind of thing that makes me mad. Explain," Kyoko ordered.

Sayaka prefaced her explanation by throwing her hands in the air, already afraid of being unable to convey everything properly. "Before Mami died, I tried hard to come up with a good wish! I ended up coming up with the perfect wish eventually, too!" Sayaka lowered her hands. "But something was wrong with it. I don't know what, I never figured it out, but... I got a bad feeling about it. So I didn't go through with it.

"When Mami died, I wondered if I was too much of a coward to have come up with a wish then. If I had acted, could I have saved her? Fought along with her to defeat the witch she had trouble with? After she died, I decided along with Madoka to give up on being a magical girl.

"But then I found you dying, and I remembered a magical girl I...met once. She was brave and strong, and I was positive she wouldn't have hesitated a second time. She would've saved Mami in the first place.

"I think it's all well and good to think hard about what wish you need to make, but with me, I think... If my heart isn't in it at just the thought of the wish, it wouldn't be worth fighting for. I needed to know without a doubt, instead of waiting to convince myself."

Kyoko stared at her with a contemplative silence, her eyes holding their usual harshness but with an added softness of vulnerability that came with thinking about something personal. Sayaka felt vulnerable looking at her.

Then Kyoko said in a business tone, "Who's the magical girl?"

"I uh..." Sayaka angled away and bit her lip, already expecting a reprimanding. "I don't remember."

"You don't?" Kyoko asked, displaying nothing but confusion.

"I met her in a dream, kind of?" Sayaka's face turned red, and she flailed her hands back and forth. "That's the way Madoka put it! She had a similar problem, except I dreamed about the girl twice instead of just once like her."

"Huh. Interesting." Kyoko stretched her arms up to the sky. "If you think it's important, and she existed in your dream, then... I guess there's something there."

Sayaka's embarrassed flush gave way to happiness. "Thanks for not laughing in my face about that."

"Nah. That's the kind of thing magical girls should remember. You never know when your weird gut feelings turn out to be right," Kyoko said.

"Actually... I've been having other visions, too. I think those have been about the future. In my first witch fight, I saw a big attack coming before it happened. And it wasn't like I saw a pattern, I really saw it happen before it happened."

Kyoko's business tone returned, and she stepped forward with an air of a demand. "You can see the future?"

"Y-yeah," Sayaka said with a stammer, eyeing Kyoko's closeness. "I dreamed about a magical girl before I even found out they existed, and then I had a horrible feeling about one wish so I turned it down, and then I got that vision in a fight after becoming a magical girl."

"...This started before you even became one? That's really weird." Kyoko withdrew and stared at the ground. "We should ask Kyuubey about this. Your magic usually has something to do with your wish, but if something like that happens out of nowhere, then there's no telling where it came from."

"There can only be two explanations for it, if it started before she became a magical girl," Kyuubey said as he appeared from the darkness. "Either Sayaka's natural magical talent was concentrated in prophecies before she was even granted real magic, or she's under the effect of someone else's magic."

"Someone else's magic?" Kyoko gripped her arms with her hands from where her arms were crossed. "That's...but who...?"

Sayaka was confused at first, too, until it hit her, and then she groaned. "The transfer weirdo, Homura Akemi."

"There's _another_ magical girl around?" Kyoko asked. At Sayaka's nod, she mumbled, "Great."

"I'm curious as well about this. I'll be keeping an eye out," Kyuubey said.

"Hey, what's Homura's magic?" Kyoko asked.

In the middle of turning, Kyuubey paused. "I don't know."

"How can you not know? You're the one who makes us into magical girls."

"I wasn't the one who gave her a contract." Kyuubey started walking. "That's part of why I need to know what happens."

"Wait, one more thing," Kyoko said. "Sayaka told me I apparently can't die because of her wish, but is there any way for me to die?"

Kyuubey turned back around. "Sayaka can reject her wish, canceling her desire for you to live. That would result in her losing her enhanced healing powers, though." Kyuubey tilted his head in another direction. "There is one more possibility."

"What's that?"

"Let your soul gem become completely corrupted. You will, in a sense, die."

Before Kyuubey could move, Kyoko darted in front of him. "What do you mean, 'in a sense'?"

"When your soul gem becomes filled with the corruption of despair, you lose your sense of self and become a witch." Kyuubey turned his head away to face ahead. "Not everyone will consider that death. In fact, Kyoko's body will remain a witch, and since her body can't die, her witch will torment Japan forever."

"Wait," Sayaka said, her voice croaking. " _Wait_. You mean...we become _witches_ when we die from our soul gems? And when that happens to Kyoko, which is the only way for her to die 'in a way,' she'll still remain a witch forever?" By the time she finished speaking, her throat was so thick and choked by the reflex of crying that she could barely be heard.

Kyuubey heard her. "You wished for her to live. She'll live forever now. Isn't that what you want?"

"No!" Sayaka cried.

She summoned a sword.

Kyoko's eyes remained trained on the floor, wide and blank from shock.

"I wanted her to _live_ , as a _person_!" Sayaka screamed. She held her sword with shaking hands.

"You should have been more specific, Sayaka. Weren't you happy before when you found out she'll be invincible? Her invincibility itself is because of an error on your part," Kyuubey explained.

" _Fix my wish_!" Sayaka shrieked at him. She prepared her arms, angling the tip of her sword and broadcasting her aim at him.

"It was your fault to begin with," Kyuubey said calmly.

Sayaka stabbed him. His body was soft, giving way easily to the sword shoved into him, blood dripping out.

Sayaka moved the sword to slice him in half. He stopped moving.

"That reminds me," Kyuubey said, his voice continuing on despite his visible death. "There is one more way for Kyoko to die.

"All soul gems are weak to attacks and pain. Kyoko's is the one exception; she can succumb to corruption and despair, but it's impossible to destroy her soul gem by normal means.

"You, Sayaka, are the extraordinary means. Your magic is the reason for her existence, so if you cut her soul gem with your sword, you will kill her," Kyuubey finished.

Kyuubey then walked forward from behind them and ate his first body. Sayaka covered her eyes and jerked away with a gag.

"You're invincible too..." Kyoko said quietly, responding for the first time.

Kyuubey lifted its head. "I have an infinite amount of spare bodies, but it's still a waste to create more. Don't do that again."

When Sayaka and Kyoko both remained too engrossed in shock to speak more, Kyuubey leaped up and disappeared.

"I'm so sorry," Sayaka said in a thick choked voice. She dropped her sword, and it clattered to the ground before she detransformed.

Kyoko let herself be hugged by Sayaka as Sayaka's arms wrapped around her tightly, the both of them overcome with emotion.

Sayaka kept murmuring "I'm so sorry," over and over to her -- and partially to herself -- and Kyoko remained quiet. By the time Sayaka stepped back, she realized Kyoko had already calmed down, the light of awareness back in her face.

"I'm not going to say I told you so," Kyoko said.

Sayaka shoved her, fury rising up in her. "I spent this entire time crying," she said, and she wiped the tears from her face, "and the only thing on your mind is--"

"I mean I _can't_ say it. Because...to be honest, Sayaka, I used to be like you." Kyoko's arms slumped, defeated. "I used to be filled with ideas of fairy tales and heroes like you. I used my wish on my father, but all it did was bring despair crashing down on my family."

When she explained what happened, Sayaka lost the will to argue.

"That's why you were so mad to find out I used my wish on you," Sayaka said.

Kyoko nodded. "It's too late to teach you not to do that, I was too late before I even started, but... Even if I wanted to fight with you, there's nothing I can do." She turned. "Come on. Let's go home."

"Home?" Sayaka asked, her voice coloring with hope.

Kyoko stuffed her hands into her pockets. "You're the only one who can kill me, and I can still turn into a witch. We need to keep each other alive."

Sayaka lifted her head. "I told you I won't die, and... I mean it. I won't die. And I mean it more now. I'll stay alive forever, so you'll always have your soul gem's weapon."

"Sayaka..." Kyoko's face softened.

"Promise with me," Sayaka commanded, taking a page out of Kyoko's demanding book. She stuck her hand out. "Promise with me we'll live forever."

Kyoko sighed out through her nose, lowering her head for a moment. Sayaka's heart deflated, and she almost turned, but Kyoko placed her hand on top of hers.

"I...promise to live forever with you," Kyoko said.

Sayaka ducked and noticed the abashed look on her face. She grinned. "Are you embarrassed somehow?"

"Of course I am! We're stuck together forever now!" Kyoko griped. "It's emotional, and..." She removed her hand, and Sayaka barely realized they had been holding hands, warmth blooming up her face.

"Wishes apparently don't mean much with someone like Kyuubey around," Kyoko said. "Something like a promise, something you can fix...that means a lot more, so..."

Kyoko went silent, and Sayaka was too red-faced to continue that conversation.

"Let's go home, then," Sayaka said.

Kyoko followed her, and they shared the same bed that night.

 

* * *

 

The next day Kyoko went hunting witches while Sayaka went to school. Madoka didn't pry about her magical girl activities, and Sayaka didn't bring them up. She wasn't planning on bringing anyone else into their plans.

Then Homura appeared in front of Sayaka after school. Madoka had just left to go home, leaving Sayaka alone.

Sayaka jerked her head around to search for possible witnesses. She really was alone.

She scoffed, and then turned her head back partway to eye Homura. "What do you want?"

"I know you're a magical girl now," Homura said calmly. "You seem to have made contact with Kyoko, too."

Sayaka bristled, and she spread her feet in an aggressive attack stance. "How do you know that?"

"Kyuubey."

Sayaka kicked at the ground. "Kyuubey," she hissed.

Homura raised an eyebrow. "You don't like him anymore?"

" _No_." Sayaka kicked at the ground again, and then threw her head back, shoving her hands into her hair. "He... He ruined my wish."

"Already?"

Sayaka lowered her hands and narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, 'already'?"

"What I mean is, wishes usually become twisted anyway. I'm just surprised it's already happened." Homura flicked her eyes up and down Sayaka's body. "As long as you still have the will to keep fighting, then I suppose that doesn't matter. It's a good thing you don't trust Kyuubey anymore, too. I've come with important information Kyuubey wouldn't want you to know."

Sayaka didn't trust Homura. As soon as all this horrible stuff had started happening, she had appeared, like an omen. She was creepy, especially with her focus on Madoka, she didn't want to cooperate with other magical girls as evidenced by Mami, and she just gave Sayaka bad vibes.

But the trace of rebellion -- "important information Kyuubey wouldn't want you to know" -- made Sayaka consider listening. If anything, Kyuubey had to be worse than Homura, no matter what creepy things Homura did or what she made Sayaka feel.

Sayaka shifted her weight on her feet. "Okay, I'm listening."

Homura turned. "Not here. I want to speak with Kyoko, too."

Sayaka continued to stare, her attention evolving to a glare. She almost said no, that moving the location to Homura's liking sounded more dangerous, but then she realized adding Kyoko to her side would make things dangerous for Homura instead of Sayaka.

"Fine," Sayaka agreed.

Sayaka walked home with her. When Kyoko came home half an hour later, she squinted at Homura. "Who is this?"

"Homura. The transfer girl," Sayaka said with a note of disdain.

"Got it." Kyoko leaned back against a wall and crossed her arms. "What're you doing here?"

"I need your help with a witch."

Sayaka suppressed a snort. "Why should we work with you?"

"Because we both care about Madoka," Homura said, her voice shedding only a little of its edge. "This witch will cause a lot of death if it rampages without anyone stopping it, and Madoka will use her wish to become a magical girl to fight if that happens. This witch is so powerful it doesn't need a labyrinth, it'll appear right in the city and kill everyone."

Sayaka's doubt and cynicism died as she finished explaining. Kyoko's eyes continued to narrow.

"I haven't heard or seen this witch," Kyoko said.

"It hasn't hatched yet, but it will soon."

"And how do you know this?"

"Statistics," Homura said. When neither of them reacted with support or signs they believed it, Homura added, "Occasionally, witches can join together and fuse into a more powerful witch. If they do this too much, it becomes almost impossible for a single magical girl to defeat."

"What do we get out of this?" Kyoko asked.

Homura returned her eye contact with a calm gaze. "You get to live instead of be killed in the witch's crossfire."

Kyoko's demeanor shifted, as if she was considering it. Sayaka's face hardened.

"And you know Madoka well enough to know exactly what she's going to do," Sayaka said with a sneer.

"I do know her," Homura said unflinchingly.

Sayaka's frown deepened. " _How_."

"It's hard to explain. It's almost as if...'I met her in a dream,'" Homura quoted.

Sayaka lunged forward and grabbed her. "How do you know that?"

Homura expressed only vague bafflement instead of surprise at the hold, like her knowledge was natural and should be the default. "Because I've heard her say it?"

"Have you been hanging around her?" Sayaka asked.

"Not really. I spoke to her in school a few times, but that's it." Homura's eyes shifted past Sayaka, gazing somewhere else. "I do know her, though, in a way that's hard to believe. Call it the past, call it a dream, I know who she is and what she's like."

"Is it because of magic?"

Homura closed her eyes. "Yes."

Sayaka released her. "Fine. I guess... If Madoka and I can both dream about people, then I guess it's possible you have something too. It's probably even weirder, since you're the...random transfer girl."

"Speaking of dreams," Kyoko started, pushing off the wall to stand closer, "Kyuubey told us Sayaka's dreams might have to do with someone else's magic, and Sayaka thinks it could be yours. Care to fill us in?"

Homura turned to the door. "You don't trust me, and I don't trust you. All we need to share is what kind of magic we have, and our abilities, to take care of the upcoming witch. I'll finish explaining at my place. To appease you, I'll give you my magic: it's time magic. I can freeze time."

"Time magic that freezes time?" Kyoko exchanged a glance with Sayaka. "That doesn't exactly sound like something that can cause dreams, I don't think..."

Sayaka slumped, her tension gone. "We'll...trust you then, I guess."

Homura opened the door. "Follow me."

 

* * *

 

Walpurgisnacht was a week and a half away, according to Homura's "statistics." For Kyoko and Homura, that was sufficient time to prepare items and grief seeds, but for Sayaka, who had barely any combat experience, ordinary preparations wouldn't be enough to ensure her survival, even with her healing magic. And it wouldn't be enough time to train her way to a strength where she could meaningfully contribute raw attack power.

In their plans, she was placed on the backline. It wasn't the sideline, she was a magical girl and still had abilities to contribute, such as clearing familiars for them and warning them about future attacks betrayed by visions, but she wasn't allowed to approach the real danger zone.

After she tried arguing her place onto the frontline, she was shot down from helping with plans altogether.

Kyoko and Homura stopped talking after her umpteenth repetitive suggestion. Kyoko stared at Sayaka like she was a completely clueless girl. "No offense, but you're horrible at strategizing," Kyoko said.

"If you're just going to keep saying you should be on the frontline, we're going to stop taking your ideas altogether and exclude you from planning. Being on the frontline when you're new is just suicide," Homura said. "Sit there and be quiet, you can no longer contribute."

Sayaka crossed her arms. "No."

"Sayaka. Homura can freeze time, and we're both veterans. We can handle the danger," Kyoko said.

"That's not my problem. I want to help," Sayaka said, except her continued petulance meant her voice was coming out in a mutter more and more as the meeting wore on.

"Sorry about her," Kyoko told Homura. "But we're both kind of..."

"In a relationship?" For the first time, Homura had an expression on her face other than infuriating calmness or stoicism. She was apologetic. "Sorry. Her stubbornness makes sense, then. Maybe we can--"

"Wait, hold on," Sayaka rasped out. She took in a breath. "What did you just say?"

"We're not, it's not like _that_ ," Kyoko said quickly.

Homura schooled her face back into a neutral impassive mask. "Then what is it?"

"We're kind of...tied together in a weird way because of Sayaka's wish," Kyoko said in a half-mumble.

They had yet to really explain Sayaka's wish. Homura insisted from the start that they shouldn't explain their wishes, since it was personal, and they were strangers. Kyoko and Sayaka also didn't want Homura to know that Kyoko could create an invincible witch. Homura already seemed invested in killing witches.

"Oh. Figures." Homura released a sigh. "As I was saying, we can get earpieces for communication. I was going to say it anyway, but either way, if you're connected and in need of further communication, you should be able to talk. I'll get us a few, and we'll save them for the fight so they don't get damaged by other witch fights."

"O-okay. That sounds great," Kyoko said listlessly.

"I'll get one for myself as well. We might as well all have a means of communication."

Kyoko and Sayaka remained silent. Homura watched them, gauged something she didn't like, and got to her feet with an impatient thud.

"We'll continue this later," Homura said. "Maybe you should get going."

Homura's glinting eyes flicking to the door sent the message. Kyoko and Sayaka headed out.

Sayaka released a wince and gripped her head. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Kyoko snorted. "It's not your fault."

"It kind of is, though. My wish is the reason we're stuck like this."

"No, it's not. You were an idiot, but Kyuubey's really the one at fault. How were you supposed to know you should've said something like 'I want her to live as a human'? That you wanted that was obvious." Kyoko shrugged. "Besides, I don't really care what Homura thinks. It's not our fault we don't understand her."

"R-right." Sayaka's heart flipped. Kyoko could've been fine with Homura just assuming the wrong thing.

"What we need to focus on is Walpurgisnacht," Kyoko continued. as she started walking, prompting Sayaka to follow. "We need to train you."

Sayaka's confused anxiety faded. "But I thought--"

"Yeah, you won't fight on the frontline, that's the plan, but you still need to defend yourself. At the very least, you need to fight familiars."

Sayaka groaned. "Fine."

Kyoko nodded. "We'll train tonight."

"Why not right now? Shouldn't we use all the time we have?"

Kyoko's mouth tugged into a grin. "Are you in any clubs or sports, Sayaka?"

"Not right now," Sayaka said with a trace of confusion.

"You see, kids in sports go to summer camps for a week or two to train day and night. That one week is the most intense training they'll get in the whole year."

"I've _been_ in sports before, I know how it works," Sayaka snapped without bite.

Kyoko's sharp teeth pointed in a more threatening grin. "The next week and a half will be your summer camp, Sayaka. Change into your workout clothes."

Sayaka's face fell. "What?"

"You're going to run and condition until you can't anymore. And then you'll rest and do it all over again until it's nighttime, where we can train our magic."

Sayaka struggled to keep her face straight. She hated the thought of being on the backline, and she hated the idea of training just to be on the backline even more. But she also loved summer camps. The idea of a magical girl kind sounded like it could be fun.

Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Come on. I know you want to."

"No I don't," Sayaka denied.

"Have it your way. We're going home, changing, and training either way."

Sayaka grumbled and raised her shoulders, sinking between them. After a few minutes she asked, "What about homework?"

"You're kidding, right?" Kyoko gaped at her. "We don't have time for school with the apocalypse around the corner."

Sayaka gaped back. "But school?"

Kyoko snorted and gestured over herself. "I don't even go to school anymore. Staying alive is more important."

"But..." Sayaka floundered to find something to say about how school was important, even if she hated it.

Kyoko flashed a look of triumph when she noticed Sayaka's restrained silence. "You shouldn't even go to school until Walpurgisnacht's taken down."

Horror crossed Sayaka's face and heart. "How am I going to explain that to my parents?"

Kyoko shrugged. "Tell them the truth? Run away? Who cares." She leaned in closer from where she walked next to Sayaka. "Besides, killing Walpurgisnacht _is_ the right thing to do. This thing can destroy a whole city, apparently. It's right on both a moral and practical point."

"Meaning that's the only reason why you'd fight it," Sayaka said, resigned.

Kyoko read her irritation and clicked her tongue. "You have a problem with my way of life?"

"No." Sayaka stepped away and batted her hands in the air. "No, let's not argue. You're right, we need to focus on Walpurgisnacht."

Kyoko's smile returned. "Glad we agree."

 

* * *

 

Sayaka asked Madoka to cover for her at school, to say she was sick. She didn't want to tell Madoka that a city-wide apocalypse was coming because of Homura's warning that Madoka would just try to help, so she left out the details, but told her she found out her skills weren't enough, and she needed to do emergency training.

Madoka didn't agree, but she helped anyway. Sayaka thanked her profusely. This was better than running away from home or telling her parents she was a magical girl fighting death.

Kyoko trained her hard. It really was to her limits. Not to dangerous limits, but it was still a grind.

In the middle of a break between training sessions, Sayaka told Kyoko about the girl from her dreams.

"You don't even remember what she looks like?" Kyoko asked, an odd mix of faint amusement and something else in her voice and face. That something else was nothing like amusement, it was closer to reluctance.

"Yeah... I don't." Sayaka raised her arms up. She was lying on her back, too tired to stand or even sit.

Kyoko sat down next to her with a thump. "I know I said not to knock stuff like dreams about magic or the future, but I still think it's a _little_ weird that you're so invested in some girl you don't know."

Sayaka shot up to a sitting position. "What did you just say?"

"I'm saying, you have no idea what she's like, but you treat her like she's a hero. Stop fawning over her, it's gross. You became a magical girl because of her, I know, I get it already."

Sayaka scooted away. "What's your problem?"  
"Nothing. I just think it's dumb." Kyoko got up again restlessly and glanced up at the sky. "It's getting late. You should go pretend to go to bed so we can get ready for the real training tonight."

"Fine," Sayaka snapped. She left Kyoko to go home first.

 

* * *

 

They didn't say a word to each other until the middle of the night, when Kyoko came to pick her up for training.

"Let's go," was the first thing Kyoko said.

Sayaka understood, and she didn't feel like saying anything back. She whipped off the blankets to reveal her ordinary clothes and followed behind Kyoko as they left and went to an abandoned warehouse. It was the same one Sayaka had fought a witch in to save Hitomi and Madoka.

"Last night we just had you doing whatever you could with your magic so we could see what you were capable of," Kyoko said in a no-nonsense tone. "Tonight we're doing something different."

Sayaka grumbled. "What're we doing?"

With a sudden flash, Kyoko's clothes changed into magical girl clothes. "Fighting."

Kyoko didn't do anything for a moment, giving Sayaka the chance to prepare herself. Sayaka was too busy spinning over how familiar Kyoko looked now.

Kyoko stabbed something in Sayaka's direction, and in a burst of instinct Sayaka transformed to intercept the attack with a sword.

Sayaka stumbled backward. "What was _that_?"

"The start of your first session in real combat," Kyoko said before she attacked again.

Sayaka struggled to just block, let alone retaliate. Her mind was whirring to keep up.

As the mock fight wore on Sayaka got more desperate. She knew Kyoko wouldn't seriously hurt her, Sayaka had no fear of mortal danger, but she was still overcome with frustration, and then that grew to shaking agitation.

"Hey, calm down," Kyoko said without pausing.

Sayaka slashed her sword down against Kyoko's spear. After bringing up her sword she realized her hands were shaking, and her heart was pounding, pumping its pulse throughout her body.

And then she realized she was _anxious_. It was like the very first time she had ever fought a witch, except not. She was desperate to be strong, but it was impossible to be strong enough.

Sayaka could feel the adrenaline and danger. Kyoko wasn't intending to be dangerous, but there was danger lingering ahead, in Walpurgisnacht, and Sayaka was terrified of it.

The blood roaring in her ears suddenly felt very familiar. The spear flashing in her face, the thrum of anxiety in her nerves -- it was all familiar.

Sayaka gasped. "You're the girl with the spear!"

Kyoko paused. "What?"

Coming to the realization of the dream's reality in the middle of a fight was a splash of cold water. Sayaka's sword hand fell to her side.

"My dreams were about _you_!" Sayaka exclaimed as she pointed at Kyoko.

Kyoko stared at her hard for a moment. "What?"

Sayaka hopped as she continued pointing. "It's you!"

Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "Why did it take you so long to recognize me then?"

"Because!" Sayaka emphasized. "I didn't know it was _you_ until... I don't know, I just couldn't tell until we were fighting."

Kyoko looked like she was having trouble swallowing. Her face was slowly growing red, but she wasn't succumbing to it, she was gauging Sayaka with a critical eye. "Can you explain more at all?"  
Sayaka tensed and then deflated. "I don't know. I just..." Sayaka paused to give it more thought. "In my dreams I felt sort of scared? We were fighting, I think. But at the same time, I could tell that there was something special about you."

"We were fighting?" Kyoko stared ahead hard, and then shrugged. "That sounds like we were trying to kill each other, but we're not."

Sayaka crossed her arms. "Maybe Homura did something with her magic after all."

"Time magic? You don't think she messed with the future somehow, do you?"

"How should I know?" Sayaka continued to stand in the serious atmosphere for a few moments, before clapping her hands and going, " _Anyway_ , I'm glad it's you! Maybe that's why I've been feeling weird about it."

Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"This whole time I've been thinking that that girl from my dreams was strong, but also...brave? Heroic? No, not exactly heroic, more like...she had a lot of willpower."

Kyoko blushed pink in the face. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here!"

"Sorry. I was just answering the question." Sayaka glanced up at the night sky. Once it was night, it didn't get any darker, the sky only brightened with dawn, but Sayaka still had the feeling that it was getting later. "Shouldn't we finish?"

Kyoko sighed and rolled her shoulders. "Yeah, we should."

Kyoko jumped into things again, striking out and intentionally riveting Sayaka right back into adrenaline.

"You said you can see the future, right?" Kyoko asked over the clang of their weapons. Her spear paused to push against Sayaka's sword, stalling for dialogue.

Sayaka nodded.

"You should try bringing that out."

"How?"

Kyoko shrugged, and then her eyes drifted to Sayaka's sword. "The same way you use your sword."

Sayaka grimaced. " _Not_ helpful."

"I'm talking about the release of magic you use to summon a weapon."

Sayaka let out an impatient huff, displacing hair from her face.

She gave it a shot. Calling another sword was simple enough, so with that sentiment in mind she grasped for something else.

Sayaka could tell there was something there, like it was beyond the ability to grab another sword, but it was also just out of reach.

Kyoko stopped completely. "Every magical girl can use more than one kind of magic, and the magic tends to depend on the wish. It's just a matter of figuring out how to connect to it."

Sayaka kept reaching out, and when she thought she had it, she released the burst of magic.

It was another sword. Sayaka groaned.

"Try again," Kyoko instructed.

Sayaka continued to summon more swords on each try. When she had finally achieved an uneven vertigo of the future, she had lost count of her tries.

Sayaka recovered and cheered. "I did it! And all I had to do was do it over and over, there was nothing special to do!"

"Good, now keep trying to do it for the next hour," Kyoko said as she readied her spear.

Sayaka groaned again as if she had just failed.

Kyoko attacked her now, going slower than before but still fast enough to trigger the adrenaline and desperation that was apparently more effective for drawing out visions.

The next problem Sayaka realized was that the flickering visions of the future tended to throw her out of the state of mind she needed to be in for a fight. It made her disoriented, since it was more than just information, it was like she was already there in the next moment. It also tended to make her flinch on reflex, and that removed any advantage she gained by wasting the seconds bought.

It all added up to taking a lot of concentration to use.

They practiced for another hour before Kyoko decided to stop. She explained that just using magic corrupted their soul gems, so they couldn't mock fight with magic as much as they wanted.

At home, Kyoko tried rolling out the pitiful floor bed, but Sayaka kicked it away.

"Hey, what're you doing," Kyoko snapped.

"Just sleep on the bed with me," Sayaka said.

Kyoko's head jerked up. "What? No."

"You've already done it before," Sayaka said with a roll of her eyes.

"Well I'm not going to do it again," Kyoko continued in a voice that left no room for argument.

"Fine, have it your way." Sayaka kicked the blankets loosely back into place and climbed into bed.

 

* * *

 

Sayaka had a few close calls with a witch. She needed to stock up on grief seeds, and she didn't want to rely on Kyoko for all of them, so she offered to get some herself. She had already fought one before, too, and she didn't think it would get any more difficult unless an unpredictable witch came along like the one that had killed Mami.

She was sort of wrong. It never got any easier, and it took everything she had to keep herself from being hit. She also couldn't rely on visions because she couldn't adjust to them yet to react in time safely.

"Maybe you shouldn't fight witches until you get better at fighting," Kyoko said.

Sayaka's head swiveled. "Are you saying I shouldn't help with Walpurgisnacht?"

"That's not what I'm saying, but..." Kyoko avoided her eyes. "If you want to step out of the fight, I won't stop you. From what Homura's told me, just having more than one magical girl fighting it is what's important."

"I don't believe this," Sayaka muttered. "Am I too weak for you or something?"

Unexpectedly, Kyoko's face turned red. "No, you're not too weak for me. I just don't want you to get hurt. You're the only thing that can kill me, remember?"

Sayaka released a breath that took her tension with it. "Right. Fine. You're still an idiot for it, though. I'm fighting."

"Sayaka--"

"I'm on the backline anyway! You already put me there."

"Alright, I get it. You'll...stay."

Sayaka gave a sharp self-assured nod.

"Okay. Just...don't push yourself," Kyoko said.

They left Sayaka's house and headed for Homura's. It was just for more preparations, to make sure everything was on track, but Kyoko had gone tense when they stepped out. Sayaka didn't know what to make of the change.

Homura opened the door wordlessly and led them to a group of chairs. Sayaka tried to ignore the floating screens, but they were so unnerving she ended up watching them.

"First things first, we need to sort something out," Kyoko said.

Homura remained impassive. "What is it?"

"It's your time magic. We figured out Sayaka's dreams showed things that never happened. Does your magic affect the future?"  
Homura's face twitched. "She sees things from alternate futures?"

"Alternate futures...?" Sayaka echoed.

"What else can they be?" Homura looked over at one of the floating screens. "Only the dreams didn't match up with the future, right?"

"Yeah," Sayaka answered. "Visions give the right future."

"I see..." Homura trailed off with her contemplation still facing the screens.

Kyoko leaned forward expectantly. "So? You look like you know something."

Homura turned to snare at Kyoko flatly.

"Come on, out with it," Kyoko said. "You want us to trust you, don't you?"

Homura's eyes narrowed. "I need your help as much as you need mine."

"Then out with it so you can help us."

Homura's jaw shifted, like she was setting her determination to say no, but then she said, "Fine. I'll tell you part of my wish. You should both tell me some of yours in return."

"Fine," Kyoko snapped. She sagged in her chair. "I wished...to help my dad with his job."

"I wished for Kyoko to not die," Sayaka said.

Homura's eyes focused on her. They widened for a moment, and the surprise in them made Sayaka surprised herself.

Then Homura recovered and asked, "And that was something you kept from me because...?"

"Because you told us we could just keep it to ourselves," Sayaka argued.

Homura snorted. "This is the kind of thing that would be _helpful_ to know." She collected herself and leaned back in her seat. "I suppose it explains why you two are weird about your friendship, if you used one of your wishes to make an accidental connection."

"Well, it's your turn," Kyoko said with a wave. "Spit it out."

Homura brought her hands together over the table. "Every time I lose to Walpurgisnacht, I get sent back in time to redo it."

"Now _that_ is something we should know," Kyoko said with irritation. "But whatever. Now we know."

"Now I'll tell you my theory," Homura said.

Kyoko and Sayaka both went quiet.

"I think I've been time traveling so much that it's given the people involved dreams of the failed timelines," Homura explained. "I've already heard from Madoka that she's had a dream about me and Walpurgisnacht. What I don't understand is why it's affected Sayaka so much."

"Well, what happened in the other timelines?" Sayaka asked. "Maybe that would explain things."

"Madoka becomes a magical girl in all of them. In fact, that's usually the reason why I fail: without other magical girls, Madoka is the only one strong enough to kill Walpurgisnacht, but she then becomes so powerful a witch that no one can defeat her."

"Well, good. Now her becoming one is definitely out of the question," Sayaka said.

"Yes. If I can defeat it with you two, then it'll finally be a victory. I don't care what happens to me after that."

The conviction in her voice was so strong and natural that Sayaka was taken aback. She felt comfortable with her, for once. Homura seemed to actually care about saving other people, when it came to Walpurgisnacht.

"Hold on," Kyoko cut in. "When you say 'without other magical girls, Madoka ends up doing it,' do you mean Sayaka and I usually die?"

Homura gave a cough that was suspiciously like a scoff. "Sayaka's wishes almost always end up leaving you both dead. I was so surprised this time to hear Sayaka say she used her wish _on_ you this time that I was actually a little impressed. There couldn't have been a better outcome than if I had warned you right at the start that you were both probably going to die."

Kyoko didn't say anything.

Sayaka flicked her hair from her shoulder. "My wishes are that bad? What could be so bad about them?"

"One wish you make a lot is to heal Kyosuke. He doesn't appreciate it, which sends you onto a miserable path, and Kyoko always gets mad that you wasted your wish on something so stupid."

Sayaka froze with a twitch. "I-It's not a terrible wish!"

"...You were goiing to make that wish, weren't you," Homura said so flatly that it didn't reach the tone of a question.

"No!" Sayaka denied. After a beat, she amended by saying, "I almost did, but I got a bad feeling about it, so I didn't."

"Oh? That's interesting. Another effect of seeing other timelines, maybe." Homura then mumbled, loud enough to be heard, "At least you have some kind of self-preservation this time, even if it's just instinct."

"So you don't know why time traveling is affecting Sayaka, huh?" Kyoko asked. "Maybe it's luck? Or maybe she managed to hold onto some magic before you went back?"

"...It's probably the second one. Maybe a combination of the two. Either way, she received visions, and those evolved to outright seeing some of the future. Any kind of talent or skill before magical girl transformation has a chance of evolving with magic." Homura eyed them. "As long as you're both alive with serious advantages this time, I don't care."

Kyoko relaxed. "Let's talk about Walpurgisnacht now, then."

Sayaka spent half the discussion time wondering just how tied together she was with Kyoko if something happened in every timeline.

 

* * *

 

"It's scary how we died every time in the other timelines," Sayaka said as they got ready for bed that same night.

Kyoko didn't respond at first. "I don't want to talk about that."

"Why not?"

"If it's so scary, then you should just shut up about it, too."

Sayaka frowned. "Fine. Good night." She crawled into bed.

She rarely fell asleep immediately, and lately she'd been kept awake more and more, but tonight she stared at the ceiling harder and more awake than ever.

"Aren't you scared?" Kyoko eventually asked. She was quiet, but without fear. Her voice was more resigned than fishing for sympathy.

"Why?"

"Because not being afraid at all probably means you have no idea what you're up against. But you're new at this, so you probably are scared."

Sayaka rolled over to face away from Kyoko. "I'm a little scared," she admitted.

"At least you admit it," Kyoko said. "I think it's for the best if you have no regrets, by doing stuff like admitting it. I'm scared too, but it's more like...a fear of failure than death. I'm used to this already, after all."

"...How do you feel about always knowing each other in the other timelines?" Sayaka asked.

Kyoko sighed, this time heavy with something more than just resignation. "I'm not talking about _that_."

"Why not?"

"It seems...weird." Kyoko then huffed, before adding, "Not talking about it! Good night." She rolled over with an audible thud, yanking a blanket over.

Kyoko fell asleep relatively quickly. Sayaka continued to stare at the ceiling.

 

* * *

 

The night before Walpurgisnacht, a heavy storm was announced. There were shelters set up in public buildings, and Sayaka's family was planning on spending one more night in their own home before leaving in the morning for the shelter.

Sayaka sat in her bed, waiting for Kyoko to lie down for sleep. Instead, Kyoko stood near the bed, looking her over.

Sayaka folded her legs closer to herself in sudden self-consciousness. "What is it?" she asked.

Kyoko shrugged. "No regrets," she said, before following Sayaka into bed.

Sayaka's face went hot, but she was sure that it was too dark to be seen. "You changed your mind?" she asked, her voice thankfully stable. "It's about time."

After ten minutes they were drifting off to sleep.

Then the door to Sayaka's room banged open, and Sayaka scrambled to sit up.

Her mother gasped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to slam the door!" she exclaimed in a whisper. "I just wanted to check on...you..."

Sayaka's eyes were adjusted to the dark enough to recognize the look of shock on her mother's face.

"Who is this?"

"It's a girl! It's just...my friend Kyoko. We were both scared about the storm," Sayaka said.

"Oh?" her mother walked over to pull back the blanket.

Kyoko stared back at her.

"I'm sorry, Kyoko, but shouldn't you be at home with your family? They must be so worried."

Kyoko shook her head. "They're out of town. I don't even think they know what's happening."

"You poor thing." Her mother bit her lip. "In that case...I guess you can stay."

"Thanks, mom," Sayaka said softly, her quietening voice a signal for her to go back to sleep.

When she closed the door behind her, Sayaka told Kyoko, "I'm sorry, I had no idea she'd do that."

Kyoko closed her eyes. "It's alright. Let's just go to sleep."

Sayaka was so tired she didn't notice herself drifting off.

 

* * *

 

Sayaka woke up at the usual time she made breakfast, which was earlier than her parents so they wouldn't see her making enough for two people.

It wasn't early enough. When she woke up, they were both already awake.

They made breakfast for both of them, which Sayaka was thankful for, but at the same time they couldn't leave unannounced like they had been planning.

Sayaka and Kyoko ate silently, eyeing each other with meaningful glances. They needed to meet with Homura soon.

"Hey, mom?" Sayaka asked.

"Yes, what is it?"

Sayaka swallowed. She was already struggling to remain calm.

"Kyoko and I need to stop by her house to get something really quick." Sayaka carefully didn't say she was coming back.

"We'll go with you, then," her mother said.

"No, we'll go ourselves. It'll be faster."

Her mother frowned. "I'd rather you waited until we left together."

"Why? It'll take longer."

"Honey, I really don't think it'll take that much longer. Just wait for us. The storm won't start until later."

Sayaka sighed, releasing a shaking breath, before she leaned over to Kyoko. "When I tell you to, we're going to just run," she said very quietly.

"You're kidding, right?"

"It might take forever to convince her."

Kyoko slouched back in her chair, making her agreement clear.

When her father came in with their bags packed, they left the house and headed towards the car.

"They might chase us in their car," Kyoko murmured.

"Can't we outrun them? If we transform and then jump over some buildings..."

Kyoko sighed. "Alright. Ready when you are," she whispered, her voice harsh yet quiet from the danger of what they had to do. It sent a shiver up Sayaka's spine.

Their conversation had slowed them down, and her parents watched them approaching slowly in bafflement.

"Weren't you in a hurry earlier?" Sayaka's father asked.

Sayaka hissed out, "Now." She transformed immediately and ran to jump onto the fence, before leaping onto the neighbor's house.

Kyoko was right behind her, only moments behind because she was directly following Sayaka instead of just running in a random direction. They made it to the top of the house together, looking down at Sayaka's dumbfounded parents.

Her mother recovered first. "Get down here this instant!" she snapped. "We don't have time for whatever this is!"

Sayaka clasped her hands together. She was trembling now. "I'm really really sorry, mom and dad. But I have to go."

She turned and jumped away. When they were far enough away to be out of sight, she fumbled on a choked sob in her throat. Kyoko paused to pat her back.

Homura didn't comment on their lateness. "I need help setting up the bombs in the city. I had to wait until today for people to evacuate so no one would see." She closed the door without letting them in. "It's a good thing you're here to help. I can have more bombs and weapons than usual."

They had already memorized a sketch of a map that told them where to place the bombs, not just for easy preparation but for the battle, so they could set the bombs off while avoiding the explosions. Homura was in charge of most of them, but they still needed to know where her bombs were.

"Do you think your parents will chase you all over the city?" Kyoko asked.

Sayaka paused in a step. "I hope not."

"You did run away from them right in front of their faces."

"I thought it was a good idea!"

"Why would you think that?" Kyoko asked.

"Because! I thought, if they saw me in a magical girl outfit, they'd realize I had something important to do, so they'd let me go!"

"You should have just told them you had something to do," Homura interrupted.

"I did! They wouldn't listen."

"I'm not surprised they didn't trust you."

Sayaka breathed out through her nose. "Let's just go."

They split up alone to each carry bombs out to their designated places, armed with ear pieces that Homura supplied without comment. Sayaka's trembling increased and decreased on and off as she set them up.

She was a mess. They really had made the right choice to keep her in the rear guard.

 

* * *

 

The wind had picked up by the time they were done, and threatening clouds lingered in the sky.

"What a horrible coincidence that there had to be a storm like this today," Sayaka griped.

"The storm is Walpurgisnacht," Homura said.

Sayaka stood from where she was crouching. "What?"  
"I said before that this witch is so powerful it doesn't need a labyrinth. This is the result of that type of witch. Humans can only see the storm."

Sayaka hissed. "That's..."

"Hey, I think I see it," Kyoko said.

In the distance there was a cluster of odd shapes in out of place colors. They were the familiars and labyrinth monsters.

"It's here." Homura crouched, ready to spring. "Get back, Sayaka. Take care of the familiars." She leaped into the air.

Kyoko followed her, leaving Sayaka standing in a swirl of dust. She jerked her head back and forth to gauge the familiars.

Homura and Kyoko avoided them easily, but they were still a nuisance, and they still had the potential to be dangerous. Sayaka couldn't let her guard down with them. She killed every one she came across, tearing through them like paper wet from the storm.

Homura used her weapons expertly. Sayaka could see the explosions from far away -- as well as other, impromptu weapons. She didn't realize she was going to send a _bus_ carrying bombs into Walpurgisnacht, but it was a good idea. Homura had clearly thought her resources through. At one point Sayaka saw her standing on a building unloading all of the ammunition of a machine gun into Walpurgisnacht's side.

Kyoko relied mainly on her spear. Once in a while she strangled Walpurgisnacht in a tangle of spears, but like Homura's bombs and guns, it was never enough to kill it. Instead she relied on the spear tangles to form walls to rope off the familiars from getting closer, or to protect herself from Walpurgisnacht when Sayaka gave her a warning from a vision.

Occasionally she concentrated on trying to receive a vision, and if something bad was coming, she sent a verbal warning to Kyoko or Homura. Kyoko was invincible and didn't need the warnings too much, but it was still smart to let her know in advance to dodge so she could conserve magic, and Homura could use her magic to freeze time but still benefited from the same thing.

After receiving enough visions, Sayaka got frustrated. She was scared, but she still wanted to help, help _more_ , and more importantly, she wanted enough strength to not be scared.

Without thinking she grasped farther than she had before with her visions, and something else appeared. More than a simple vision, it was the big picture. Sayaka could see not just the future, but how it connected to the present.

They were going to lose at this rate. That had Sayaka panicking.

"We need to fall back," Sayaka said.

"What are you talking about?" Homura asked.

"We need to fall back, _now_ ," Sayaka demanded.

"Fine," Kyoko cut in.

"Fine," Homura echoed with weak agreement.

They reconvened on top of a building.

"What is it?" Homura asked.

"We're going to lose if we keep going like this. I can tell," Sayaka said.

"Did you see something?" Kyoko asked.

Sayaka nodded. "I saw a bigger vision of the entire fight. We're going to run out of magic and grief seeds."

Homura grimaced. It was the deepest frustration Sayaka had ever seen on her -- the most emotion ever.

"This -- this can't be happening," Homura said.

Sayaka's stomach dropped. Homura didn't seem close to panicking, but if _Homura_ was having trouble understanding the thing she was an expert at, then they didn't have a better chance of coming up with anything themselves.

Sayaka raised her sword. "I think I should give it a shot."

"No," Homura snapped, her frustration seeping into her tone.

"No," Kyoko commanded. "Just...no."

"Then what should we do? Run?"

" _No_ ," Homura rushed to say. "Madoka and her family are here."

Sayaka lowered her head into her hands. "Isn't there anything that can for sure kill a witch? Anything?"

When she raised her head, she glanced between their faces. Kyoko was facing away, her expression only partially visible, teeth gritted. Homura was staring off into the distance, her face hard.

"This is already the timeline with the most advantages on the battle field," Homura said. "There _has_ to be a way to make this work."

"Witches come from magical girls, so what kills magical girls?" Sayaka asked. "Destroying their soul gems, letting their soul gems fill with despair, and...stabbing them?"

"I already stabbed it a million times," Kyoko said distantly. "Is this thing just invincible?"

Homura stepped back into full view, her expression no longer clouded. "We can't look at it like it's a video game character with a health bar we can whittle down, and I doubt it's invincible. It's not even the strongest witch I've seen."

Kyoko gawked at her. "Tell me you're kidding."

"It has to have a weakness of some kind," Homura went on.

Homura's returned calmness had the effect of bringing Kyoko back to earth. Kyoko thought with her hand at her neck. "Throwing bombs at it over and over doesn't seem to be working."

"Maybe that's because the bombs aren't magical?" Sayaka asked. "Maybe we should only be using magical weapons."

"That makes sense in a way," Homura said. She lifted her arm to inspect her shield. "I'm not sure what to do about that."

"Maybe...maybe I should fight, since my sword is--"

"No," Kyoko said. "Not you."  
"We should prioritize your spear attacks, then," Homura said to Kyoko. "Do you have any large attacks? I know they drain a lot of magic at once, but we're running out of options. I'll back you up."

Kyoko nodded, and then stuck her spear into the ground. "I can do that."

Something squirmed in Sayaka's stomach. She was pumped full of adrenaline, and scared, but the thought of contributing to their next plan and then not getting to act in it made her restless.

She had contributed to a plan though, finally.

She watched them take off, calling out to her to stay back like before. Sayaka went back to fighting familiars.

It was a little different this time. Sayaka was afraid, but her attention was receding from the familiars and back to Walpurgisnacht itself up ahead. She was also slightly more confident in pulling up visions while fighting.

Kyoko summoned a large spear that had all the threat of a falling skyscraper. The appropriate new size reminded Sayaka of the first dream, where the spear had a kind of omen that it could change shape and size, and it felt like another piece of the puzzle had fallen into place for her. She had forgotten about that part of the dream.

It still wasn't enough. It visibly slowed down Walpurgisnacht, piercing a hole into its stomach, but it kept going, rampaging through buildings and knocking them over. Kyoko shrunk her spear again and withdrew to a safer distance before extending her spear to a longer distance but otherwise same size.

Homura continued to go through her supply, except she went through them like a dying person at their last meal, even faster than before. She disappeared for a moment, and Sayaka almost tripped when she realized Homura was gone, but in the next moment Homura had a large bomb in her hands. It was ready to explode.

Homura hurled it into Walpurgisnacht's face and disappeared again. Sayaka realized she was directly going for the remaining bombs to throw everything she had at full power in a short amount of time.

Sayaka knew Homura could manipulate the timing of detonation so she would never harm herself, but the thought still gave her a small heart attack. Homura clearly knew how to handle them and when to throw them, and she had the confidence to back the knowledge up.

After a while Sayaka was shaking too much from exertion and desperation. Walpurgisnacht was still hanging in the sky, and a little fear was creeping into her. She didn't think she had to peer into the future again to see that they were going to lose.

She imagined Mami's death again, her head being devoured by the witch. She didn't know how she was going to die herself, but she didn't want to try to see, and just the remembrance of Mami's death made her gag.

Then she thought about it again, and it hit her. Decapitation wasn't something that a magical girl could recover from.

It was something that a witch might have the same problem with.

Sayaka had the only weapon truly capable of it. Kyoko might be able to do it, or she could also try to puncture a hole large enough in Walpurgisnacht's neck that its head fell off, but it was something that was really better suited for a sword.

"Can you chop its head off, Kyoko?" Sayaka asked.

"I'll try." From the distance, Sayaka could see Kyoko's spear extending again to reach its neck.

The sharp point of the spear swung into the side of Walpurgisnacht's neck, digging in but not all the way. Kyoko had to recall the spear and move back.

After a few times of the same result, Sayaka realized it was never going to get deep enough before Walpurgisnacht attacked, even when she warned Kyoko where to dodge. It also seemed to be recovering quickly enough to undo the damage -- it had already long recovered from the puncture wound from Kyoko's large spear attack.

"Thanks, that's all I need to know," Sayaka said.

"Sayaka? What're you talking about?"

Sayaka felt herself shaking again, but for the first time since her dreams, she felt the pure burn of adrenaline instead of the symptom of fear.

Because, in her first dream, she hadn't just felt fear. It had been excitement. If it had been just fear, she never would have wanted to chase her.

The fact that she mix them up convinced herself to think of it as not fear at all. The pounding in her chest could be something else.

"I know what to do, and I don't have any regrets," Sayaka said.

She ran past the remaining familiars. She didn't know how Walpurgisnacht was able to fight and maintain a line of familiars in the first place, but she didn't care.

Sayaka arrived on the battlefield, and the sight was enough to shock Kyoko into yelling into the earpiece. Homura just sighed.

Sayaka leaped onto the side of a half-collapsed building, and from there jumped within range to swing her sword to cleave Walpurgisnacht's head from its body.

The head fell onto the floor, the absence of blood eerie after so much hard work fighting to the death. After a moment its body fell on top of it.

Sayaka landed on the floor and continued to hack at it, slicing it to pieces until Homura told her to stop, it was already dead.

"I just wanted to make sure," Sayaka said.

The three of them detransformed as the familiars faded, and the wind died down. A heap of grief seeds were left behind by its body as it evaporated.

The storm was over.

 

* * *

 

Kyoko spent an hour on and off yelling at Sayaka, disguising her crying. Sayaka sat on the floor on her knees trying not to wonder if the yelling meant Kyoko cared, or if she was just mad. Homura stood off to the side wordlessly.

After Kyoko didn't say anything for a while, Sayaka asked Homura, "What're you going to do now?"

Like she had been waiting for an invitation to speak, Homura stepped closer. "I'm going to stay in this city. If you stay too, we might clash, but I do owe you two a lot for helping me finally kill it." Homura glanced up at the opening clouds revealing the sky. "I might eventually leave, though."

Sayaka rubbed at her eyes. "I understand."

Homura turned. "If you ever need your help killing a witch, you can call on me." She the hopped over the roofs, fading into the night.

"What're _you_ going to do now?" Sayaka asked Kyoko.

Kyoko stuffed her hands into her pockets. "Stay with you. What else?"  
"I mean, what about middle school? And your house?"

Kyoko took a breath. "I've already been living on my own before you came, but I've been thinking... Do you want to do it too?"

"Do what?"

"Leave school. Live on our own. That way we can focus on fighting witches."

Sayak stared up at her in horror. "But...school...!"

"Do you honestly like school? We're no longer human, it's not like it's necessary for us. And no one can tell us anything or judge us for it. The only people who have the right to do so are other magical girls."

Sayaka lowered her gaze to the floor.

She could tell what the answer was. It was like her wish; if she didn't imagine herself already saying yes, she was never going to.

"I will, then. Let's... let's go."

They stopped at Sayaka's house to pick up her belongings. On the way out to Kyoko's abandoned church, she caught sight of her parents leaving the shelter. They were alive and unharmed.

Sayaka let out a sigh of relief. "Now I really don't have any regrets."

"Aren't you going to tell them you're alive? They're probably worried about you, too," Kyoko pointed out.

Sayaka hummed. "You're right. I'll write them a letter. If I ever die, though, I wouldn't want them to know, so...maybe this really is for the best."

Kyoko stopped and faced her. "Do you really not have any regrets?"

"No. If I did, I could tell."

"Not even about me? About making a wish for me?"

Sayaka shook her head. "No. I was always definitely sure about that wish."

Kyoko pulled back to the side, quiet and satisfied. Her face was pink, though.

**Author's Note:**

> No concrit, sorry.


End file.
